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UJJAIN (MP): Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi on 29th October, 2018 began his two-day tour of politically significant Malwa-Nimar region in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh by offering prayers at the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple, devoted to Lord Shiva.

He performed ‘puja’ at the ancient temple, which is one of the 12 ‘Jyotirlingas’ (special shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva) in the country.

It was Shri Rahul Gandhi’s second visit to the shrine. He had last visited the temple in 2010.

Wearing cream-coloured ‘shola’ (dhoti called in temple dialect), the Congress President entered the main part of the temple, along with MPCC’s president Shri Kamal Nath, MP and Campaign Committee Chairman Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, MP.

He performed the puja amid chanting of ‘mantras’ (hymns) by temple priests. Shri Rahul Gandhi performed the puja of Lord Mahakal (Shiva) for around half an hour.

Shri Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, his father Rajiv Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi too had visited the temple in 1979, 1987 and 2008, respectively to pay their obeisance to Lord Shiva.

Shri Rahul Gandhi is a “Shiv bhakt”. In August, he had undertaken Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to seek blessings of Lord Shiva.

During his two-day tour, the Congress chief will visit Malwa- Nimar, a politically crucial region which accounts for 66 of the 230 assembly seats in the state. During his visit, Shri Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies in Jhabua, Indore, Dhar, Khargone and Mhow, and also take part in a road show in Indore.

On Rafale, CBI:

Ujjain: A group of men in the crowd boisterously replied “Chor Hai” thrice after Rahul Gandhi as many times said “Chowkidar” at a rally in Ujjain on 29th October, 2018, completing the ‘watchman has turned thief’ analogy and alleging graft in the multi-crore Rafale aircraft deal.

The speech that pertained to the lack of jobs. “Ask any youth, ‘What do you do?’ He will say, “Kuchh nahin karta (I am not employed). The PM speaks of Start-Up India, Stand-Up India, baayen dekho (look to the left) India, daayen dekho (look to the right) India… koi kaam ki baat to karte nahin (he doesn’t talk about any relevant things),” said Gandhi.

Congress President’s focus in the state election campaign remained on the Rafale scam and the government’s move to send the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief on leave. He said a “panicky, trembling and scared” PM removed the CBI director at 2 am on October 24 because the director was about to order a probe into the Rafale scam.

Congress President tried to connect local issues and national issues. For instance, he said Prime Minister Modi waived loans of his industrialist friends and let Vijay Mallya, Mehul Chowksi and Nirav Modi escape but would not waive loans of farmers of Madhya Pradesh. “Loan waiver is your right. The government owes it to you. I promised it in Karnataka and Punjab; I delivered. I don’t make false promises,” he told the gathering.

Farm distress is a big issue in Malwa region where Shri Rahul Gandhi spoke on 29th October, 2018 in Ujjain and Jhabua. He promised that if the party comes to power in the state and if the Congress chief minister dilly-dallies on farm loan waiver within 10 days of coming to power, he will change the CM. This appeared to strike a chord with the crowd in what has been a BJP bastion for almost 15 years. “Modi wants to only give free gifts to his friends,” said the Congress president.

Alleging corruption in the Kumbh Mela held in Ujjain in 2016, Congress President asked, “Who should probe this? CBI? But its director was fired at 2 am!” He cited a case in Ujjain where a woman was arrested for not paying an inflated power bill of Rs 1 lakh. “Vijay Mallya goes abroad after telling finance minister, but he is not arrested. PM calls Mehul Chowksi, ‘Bhai (brother)’. For me, the Ujjain woman is a sibling,” he said.

Shri Rahul Gandhi further said that “BJP talks of religion, but their religion is corruption.” He alleged that even the smallest of work in MP could not get done without corruption. “BJP/ RSS people steal money from your pockets,”.

Congress President Shri Gandhi also accused the Centre of not implementing ‘one rank, one pension’ for the armed forces that did the surgical strikes and of “putting J&K on fire”. He alleged that the PM had insisted to France that India would buy Rafale aircraft only if Anil Ambani’s defence firm got a contract in the bargain. “Or HAL (state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) would have made jets. So Modi stole jobs of youth of MP,” said the Congress President.

Don’t need BJP’s certificate to visit temples, says Rahul Gandhi

INDORE: Often a target of sarcastic attack by the ruling BJPfor his temple visits, Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi said on 30th October that he didn’t need a certificate from the RSS and the BJP for visiting any temple.

“Is a temple the property of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, RSS and BJP? Aren’t we allowed there? I’ll go wherever I feel. I’ll go to a temple if I want,” Shri Rahul Gandhi said in an interaction with journalists in Indore.

“When Modi and Shah go to a temple and are asked there to dress up in particular attire, then the BJP and RSS leaders don’t utter anything. But when Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia visit a temple and are asked to wear particular attires there, the RSS and the BJP say we went to a fancy dress event.”

When asked for an assurance that petrol and diesel will become cheaper if his government comes to power in 2019, Shri Rahul Gandhi said “if petrol and diesel prices don’t get cheap, then excess money will be transferred to the pockets of poor in other ways like the MNREGA and food security.”

He said that a swing of 3-5% for the Congress will demolish the BJP in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

PM Modi Has “Failed” In His Promise to Bring ‘Acche Din’: Rahul Gandhi

DHAR: Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “failed” to keep his electoral promise of ushering in “acche din”(good days) and people are feeling “betrayed” now.

Canvassing for the Congress in Dhar in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Shri Rahul Gandhi also accused the prime minister of helping only select industrialists while neglecting farmers, tribals and youth of the country.

Congress President said the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to create two types of Hindustan — one for the rich and another for the poor. “On the contrary, the Congress believes in one Hindustan where if loan of rich people is waived similarly the debt of farmers will also be waived,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Gandhi said people of India, especially youth, had voted PM Modi to power by trusting him for the promises he had made.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said the Congress will waive loans of farmers in Madhya Pradesh within ten days if it is voted to power in the state. “If new chief minister (of Congress) delays waiving loans of farmers even by one day (beyond the promised ten days), we will install a new chief minister,” he said.

The Congress President also promised to set up food processing units near farms so that farmers could avail good price for their produce and their wards get employment.

Continuing his attack on the BJP government at the Centre, Shri Rahul Gandhi said, “After coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to help tribals, youths, labourers and farmers, and instead helped only 10-15 industrialists like Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, as a result of which people are feeling betrayed.” He said, “I wanted to ask you how many youths were given employment by Ambani and Nirav Modi. Life of how many farmers have they changed?”

“Earlier Modiji used to say ‘acche din aayenge’ (good days will come) but now people are saying ‘chowkidar chor hai’. This is the state of affairs of the country in just four years,” he said.

‘Demonetisation the biggest scam’, says Rahul Gandhi

Seoni/Sagar/Mandla: Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi on 16th November, 2018 said the land acquired for industrialists will be returned to original owners if his party comes to power in Madhya Pradesh and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, calling it the “biggest scam”.

Addressing rallies in support of his party candidates for the 28 November polls in Madhya Pradesh, where campaigning has reached its crescendo, he said key laws targeted at disadvantaged sections of the society will be implemented inletter and spirit.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said the BJP, in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003, is only working for a few rich people.

He said the land acquired from tribals, farmers and the poor for industrialists during the 15-year BJP rule in Madhya Pradesh will be returned to them by his party when it forms a government after the polls.

Addressing a public rally in Barghat, Seoni district, he said, “After coming to power the Narendra Modi government attacked three laws — tribal rights, land acquisition and PESA (Provisions of the Panchayats - Extension to Scheduled Areas - Act), but we did not allow it to happen.”

“We will protect your land after coming to power, and implement these acts in letter and spirit. We will give your land back to you...this is your right, we will make it happen and get the land returned to you,” he said.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said Modi had asked his party’s chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat to stop the implementation of land acquisition law (enacted under the UPA), which allows acquisition only after the consent of landowner and that too after paying fourtimes the land’s cost. Instead, Modi told his party’s chief

ministers to “snatch” the land of the poor and hand it over to industrialists, he alleged. “It was thought that he would become chowkidar of farmers, labourers, youths, mothers, sisters and weaker sections. But, he became a chowkidar of (industrialist) Anil Ambani,” he said.

Addressing a public meeting in tribal-dominated Mandla district, Shri Rahul Gandhi termed demonetisation as “the biggest scam” in the history of the country and reiterated that the note-ban exercise was undertaken to benefit a few industrialists. “Have you seen any big person like Ambani and others in the queue after demonetisation?” he asked. Shri Rahul Gandhi attacked Modi over the note ban at another rally in Sagar district and accused him of “robbing the poor of their hard-earned money and given it away to a few rich people”.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said Modi no longer talks about being a “chowkidar (watchman) of the country and of tackling corruption. Congress President claimed that Modi “cancelled the Rafale deal of 126 fighter aircraft with Dassault Aviation and HAL at a price of Rs 526 crore per plane” without informing the Indian Air Force and the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

“The then French president Francois Hollande has said the Indian government had asked for Anil Ambani to be taken on board for the deal,” the Congress President alleged. “Modi gave Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani in this deal. This is the chowkidari he has done,” Shri Gandhi alleged.

“These days, the prime minister’s speeches don’t have any mention of (eradicating) corruption, a tall promise that he had made before coming to power,” Shri Rahul Gandhi claimed.

Madhya Pradesh will have single phase polling for its 230 assembly seats on November 28 and the counting of votes will take place on 11 December.